The main manufacturing facility of Mitsubishi Air Conditioning in Livingston near Glasgow has been successfully reroofed without any disruption to production thanks to a well-executed retrofit contract carried out last summer by Mitie Tilley Roofing, utilising the Icopal Thermosolo system.

In total just over 9,000 square metres of the high performance roofing membranes were installed across the factory’s main roof area during a seven week contract carried out by the Newcastle office of Mitie Tilley: a major member of Icopal’s national installer network.
While Mitie Tilley is a regular customer of Icopal, the specification was awarded in this instance not simply on the basis of the continuing partnership between the two companies, but also the need for carefully scheduled deliveries to the busy complex on the Houstoun Industrial Estate, Livingston.

Gavin Gowland of Mitie Tilley commented:

“As a commercial and industrial roofing specialist we make frequent use of the Icopal range and have a good working relationship with the manufacturer. In the case of the Mitsubishi Air Conditioning project last year we were on site for some seven weeks and had good cooperation from both Icopal and the client regarding deliveries and logistics generally.

While the roof was not in a particularly poor condition, the production processes carried on within the plant simply cannot be put at risk so the integrity of the waterproofing system is critical. We therefore began the reroofing using a 15 mm layer of recovery board, followed by two layers of the Icopal felt for all the upstand and other details. Then a single layer across the rest of the roof.”

Jim McDairmid, the maintenance technician for Mitsubishi Air Conditioning, added:

“The choice of the Icopal system by Mitie meant we were getting an integrated product solution from a single source backed by a 20 year guarantee. I liaised with Mitie’s contracts manager and the technical manager for Icopal throughout the lead up to the work and during installation, with everything proceeding smoothly. Mechanically fixing the boards through the existing waterproofing system saved time as well as money and actually offered us additional insulation prior to the Icopal membranes being fully bonded down and details such as the skylights being dealt with. The installation has gone well and the finished job looks good.”

The guarantee from Icopal even extends to include the replacement rooflights, supplied by another manufacturer, thereby giving the client complete peace of mind. In addition to providing an integrated product solution meeting all of the client’s aspirations for the project, Icopal was able to offer comprehensive technical design back up and support on site as required.

Furthermore, the Icopal range has been developed to ensure it is both innovative and sustainable, employing environmentally friendly materials with optimum use of energy and other resources; while the systems are all recyclable at the end of life.

ThermoSolo® is an advanced SBS modified composite membrane that combines the strength and flexibility of polyester fibres with additional reinforcement to give the guaranteed dimensional stability, which is critical in single layer applications. The upper surface is coated with mineral granules with a mineral-free selvedge of 80 mm at the side lap. The end of the roll has a unique Icopal ‘‘safety’’ mineral-free overlap to enhance adhesion.

The underside surface has specially formulated low melt bitumen vapour dispersion stripes with a Red SYTAN® coating between to prevent adhesion during application. The underside is finished with a thermo-fusible film to prevent sticking in the roll.